Discarded smoking materials caused Northbridge fire

State investigators have determined that improperly disposed smoking materials caused the three-alarm fire that tore through two multi-family homes and left 23 people homeless Saturday afternoon, according to Jennifer Mieth of the state Department of Fire Services.

By Jessica Trufant/Daily News staff

Milford Daily News

By Jessica Trufant/Daily News staff

Posted May. 7, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated May 7, 2013 at 7:04 AM

By Jessica Trufant/Daily News staff

Posted May. 7, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated May 7, 2013 at 7:04 AM

NORTHBRIDGE

» Social News

State investigators have determined that improperly disposed smoking materials caused the three-alarm fire that tore through two multi-family homes and left 23 people homeless Saturday afternoon, according to Jennifer Mieth of the state Department of Fire Services.

The fire started on the back porch of the three-story home at 75 Church Ave., where investigators found no evidence of working smoke detectors, according to Mieth.

The blaze then spread from 75 Church Ave., to the three-story home behind it at 35 Cross Place.

"We wild like to remind people to be very careful with smoking materials and to put it out every time," Mieth said. "Use a good sturdy ashtray or can filled with sand, and as they spruce up their yards, don’t flick cigarette butts into mulch, as it’s combustible."

Lt. David Nowlan said firefighters responded to the scene after the call came in at 1:55 p.m. and found two adjacent buildings on fire; firefighters extinguished the flames at about 5 p.m.

Nowlan said all residents had made it out of the buildings, both of which he estimated to be a total loss.

According to the Northbridge assessor’s office, 75 Church Ave. and 35 Cross Place are on the same parcel of land, along with a third multi-family home that was not destroyed by the fire.

South Middlesex Opportunity Council’s non-profit housing corporation owns all three buildings, which have a combined value of $738,100, including the land, according to assessor’s records.

Jane Lane, a spokeswoman from SMOC, said the fire displaced 12 families, including 17 adults and six children. Residents in the third building were able to return to their units.

The Red Cross responded and set up a service center at St. Peter’s Church to provide food and clothing and worked cooperatively with SMOC to make sure all of the residents had adequate housing.

"Right now all those families have been temporarily moved to a motel in Uxbridge and SMOC has assigned a special housing team to talk with these families, to assess what’s going on and their needs because they’ve lost everything," Lane said. "Our priority is to get them into appropriate housing, and once we get that process underway we will definitely be looking at that claim from the state Fire Marshal’s office (that there were no working smoke detectors)."

Jessica Trufant can be reached at 508-634-7556 or JTrufant@wickedlocal.com.